Recipe: Gooey-Good Maple Bar Cookies

Gooey-Good Maple Bar Cookie

THESE GOOEY-GOOD maple bars in a buttery shortbread crust.

Crust:

1-1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut up
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

Filling:

1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

PREHEAT OVEN to 350 F and butter an 8-inch
square pan. Put the flour, sugar, and salt
into a food processor and mix briefly. Add
the butter and process about 10 more seconds,
until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add the yolk and water to the dry ingredients
with the machine running. Process briefly,
just until the dough starts to clump
together. (The dough can also be mixed
by hand or with an electric mixer.) Empty
the dough into the pan and press it into
the bottom and halfway up the sides.
Prick the dough with a fork in several
places. Bake for 25 minutes, then cool
on a rack. Combine the maple syrup, brown
sugar, butter, and cream in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes.
Stir in the nuts. Scrape the filling
into the crust and bake 15 minutes.

Cool on a rack. Makes 16 small bars.